The software, sold by SpectorSoft, can be programmed
to intercept tweets and Facebook posts, take screen shots of computers,
track keystrokes, retrieve files from hard drives, and search for
keywords.

The report is highly concerning to privacy advocates and
whistleblowers.

Last month Congressional investigators revealed
the highest levels of the Food
and Drug Administration authorized wide-ranging surveillance of a
group of the agency’s scientists who were communicating with
lawmakers and others about potentially dangerous medical
devices.

SpectorSoft says its best-selling product, Spector 360, can monitor
"Every activity, in complete detail" and that it
has sold the product to numerous federal agencies.

In June the Transportation Security Administration asked for
an “insider-threat software package.” The TSA specified that
employees “must not have the ability to detect this technology”
and “must not have the ability to kill the process or service,”
according to Rein.

Industry experts told the Post the WikiLeaks scandal and concerns over
unauthorized disclosures spurred the government to secretly track
its employees' work and personal computers in real time.

Each agency sets its own policies on what can be monitored, and
agencies are not required to inform employees when they monitor
communications.

“How do you distinguish between a constitutionally protected
contact with the press and an illegal leak?” Kohn asked. “You
can’t. What you have right now is the ability to find
every single Deep Throat in the government.”